RiYL

The imagery of a distant fire found its way into several of I Am Not There Anymore’s tracks, most notably “Claire’s Not Real.” Frontman Alasdair MacLean says he was inspired by trip to Spain in the summer of 2020, spotting an orange glow on the horizon. The Clientele’s long career is speckled in surrealist imagery, and real-life moments. The death of MacLean’s mother a quarter century prior permeates the record, as well. The musician sat down to discuss process and inspiration ahead of the new album’s release.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In many ways, Impossible People is a companion piece to Drinking at the Movies. The new book finds Julia Wertz confronting the period of her life detailed in its predecessor. It’s as much a story about getting one’s life together, as much as it is about recovery. Wertz returns to the show to discuss the book and the aspect of her life that informed it. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Last year marked 40 years since the Swans hit the scene. Those decades have produced some of the most forward-looking albums in an era when rock music often feels stagnant. Released in June, the Swans’s 16th record, The Beggar, finds the group continuing to push boundaries, even as most of their contemporaries have either seen fit to rest on their laurels or pack it in. Frontman Michael Gira joins us to discuss songwriting, god and his soft spot for Lana Del Rey. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When we last spoke to Alex Winter, he was in the midst of a publicity push for his Zappa documentary – a longtime passion project about enigmatic musician of the same name. This time out, the actor-turned-documentarian has returned to the tech world. It’s topic that he has returned to several times, including 2012’s Downloaded and 2015’s Deep Web – the latter of which was the subject of our first conversation that same year. The YouTube Effect finds Winter and company exploring the light and dark sides of the world’s most powerful media organization. The documentary includes conversations with YouTubers, media experts and top executives at the Google-owned platform, in a bid to understand its influence and power. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[Apologies for the literal jackhammering 10 feet from my window for portions of the recording. I promise it hurt me more than it hurts you.] “I feel very lucky that we all ran into each other at some point pretty early on in our lives,” John McCauley explains in the press material for Deer Tick’s latest. For nearly 20 years, the band has quietly been one of America’s best. From its folk-rock roots to earnest explorations of rock, the band has maintained a consistency that feels increasingly rare. That applies to both the group’s records and live performance, as well as the core group of musicians who clearly still enjoy the act of playing together. McCauley hops on from a hotel room, whether the other members are hanging out, waiting to start a Reddit AMA and seemingly enjoying life on the road. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

[Apologies for the poor audio quality on my end. I was unknowingly dealing with microphone issues.] Ruined’s premise is simple enough. One host loves horror movies. The other can’t bring herself to watch them. She does, however, want to know everything about what she’s missing out on.  Good podcasts are rarely so simple, of course. The Crooked Media program is as much a meditation on friendship and society as genre films. When not podcasting, Alison Leiby is a standup comedian, whose has performed her one-woman show, "Oh God, A Show About Abortion” off-Broadway and various East Coast cities. Halle Kiefer is a television writer and blogger for New York Magazine’s Vulture. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Leon Russell: The Master of Space and Time's Journey Through Rock & Roll History is every bit as grandiose as its subtitle suggests. It’s a sprawling and lovingly researched portrait of an unsung rock hero. Author Bill Janovitz knows a thing or two about that world, as the longtime frontman of Boston-based alternative rock stalwarts, Buffalo Tom. The band continues to tour and release music – though the pace has slowed since the halcyon days of the late-80s/90s. The band’s latest record, Quiet and Peace, was released in 2018. These days Janovitz is largely content to focus on books. 2013 saw the release of Rocks Off: 50 Tracks That Tell the Story of the Rolling Stones. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you do when you’ve got a bunch of paintings and nowhere to show them? If you’re Trever Keith, you do the same thing you’ve done your entire adult life: go on tour. The Face to Face front man is playing a handful of dates across the U.S. that showcase work he’s created based on his own songs. The events also feature an acoustic performance, something the lifelong punk singer has grown increasingly more comfortable with. Keith is currently working on an album of Americana-style originals that tap into a newfound fascination with country. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In terms of both influence and longevity, few zines rival Doris. While Cindy Crabb hasn’t published an issue in several years, it remains a prominent presence in bookstores across the world. The series, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is both deeply personal and broadly relatable, regularly tackling life’s obstacles, both large and small. These days, Crabb runs a somatic therapy practice, focusing on the ways the mind and body react to stress and trauma. She continues to write, as well, producing works on a range of topics, including 2015’s Filling the Void, which focused on alcohol recovery and the following year’s Learning Good Consent. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There’s prolific and then there’s Jad Fair. The 30 albums released by his seminal art punk band Half Japanese just scratches the surface. Since 1974, the musician has released hundreds of albums, including 150 issued through Bandcamp in a single year. Beyond the output with his band, Fair’s best known work may be his collaborations with artists like Daniel Johnston, Yo La Tengo, R. Stevie Moore and the Velvet Underground’s Mo Tucker. Fair is also a prolific artist whose paper cuttings have been show in galleries around the world. Special cameo from Fair’s dogs, Button and Blanket. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.